Improvement in photographic-picture holders



A. THOMAS. Phntngra-phic-Piptufe Holders.

Patefited Dec. 22,1874.

THE GRAPHIC CU. PHOTD'LITH-HS 8\ 4| PARK PILACEJX.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

IMPROVEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHlC-PICTURE HOLDERS.

Specification forming part ofLetters Patent To all whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, ALFRED THOMAS, of Whitpaintownship, Montgomery county, State of Pennsylvania, hav invented an Improvement in Gravitatin Photograph Picture Holder, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to provide a box or case for holding photographic, ferrotype, and other small pictures, by which means they (the pictures) are protected from dust and are not liable to be soiled by handling, while at the same time they are presented to view with ease and rapidity, and are retained securely by lock and key.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improvement in gravitating photographic-picture holder. Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the uprights used in supporting the box or case. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cords stretched across the interior of the box, upon which the pictures are placed. Fig. 4 is a perspeotive view of the slide or regulator for changing the position of each picture.

The box A is made of any suitable dimensions, of wood or other material, and is provided on two opposite sides with hinged doors B B, which are secured bymeans of suitable locks and keys. These doors are furnished with glass panels, and are opened to permit the introduction or removal of a picture. The box or case is divided lengthwise into two equal apartments by a double partition, composed of four separate pieces of glass, between the upper and lower sections of which a small open space is permitted to remain, in which a metallic slide or regulator, C, Fig. 4, isplaced. The said slide rests and is retained in position on the edges of the glass by means of a projection, cl, formed on one end of it, which works in between the perpendicular walls of the glass partitions. One end of the slide or regulator passes through the bottom of the box, and is bent over to form a convenient handle for manipulating it, as shown in Fig. 1. This end of the slide is also made with a notch, a, Fig. 4., into which a bolt from the lock f, Fig. 1, passes. Four narrow strips, D D, Fig. 3, made of the same length as the height of the box, and grooved crosswise on one side about one-tenth of an inch apart, are

No. 157,945, dated December 22, 1874; application filed May 20, 1873.

each secured in the interior, with the grooved side against the ends of the box. In the said grooves, and stretched from top to bottom of the box, is a series of cords or wires, 0 e e e, &c. The top of the box is composed of a frame inolosing two glass panels, through which the interior apartments are visible. The bottom of the box is also composed of glass, in two sections. Underneath the interior section, and visiblefrom the frontof the box, is placed any written or printed matter'that may be desired. Two of the exterior surfaces of the box are furnished with a mirror and any number of permanent pictures. The slide or regulator O, which passes through the center of the box and rests upon the edges of the glass partitions, is made of suflicient width to project about one-eighth of an inch over the sides of the said partitions, so as to form a support for the cards, and retain them in an elevated position while being viewed through the glass panels in the front end of the box. The box A is pivoted and supported between two uprights, E and E, which are secured to a base-piece, F, as shown at Fig. 1. The inner sides of the said uprights are provided with metallic plates Grand G, Fig. 2, in the center of each of which the pivotingsockets h are formed. A curved groove or channel for the passage of the pivot -pins, which project from the sides of the box, are formed in each plate. These channels lead upward and downward from the pivot-sockets, by which means the box may be elevated and permitted to revolve, or lowered and held stationary, if desired. A steady-pin, J Fig. 1, is inserted through one of the uprights, to retain the box in a suitable position while the pictures are being inspected.

In operating the album, the box or case is removed from the uprights, and the side doors B B opened. The cards or pictures are then placed vertically between the cords, in a reversed position, in the lower part of the box, so that when the box is turned over they will assume a position in the upper portion, with their inner and lower corners resting upon the slide or regulator G, and the face of each picture in proper position for inspection. Thebox, with the doors closed and locked, is then placed and pivoted between the uprights, with the top, in which are the inspection-glasses,

inclined toward the front. The steady-pin J is then inserted, and the person operating the album takes hold of the projecting end of the regulator (J, and, drawing it slowly outward, releases two cards in succession, permitting them to fall by their own gravity into the bottom of the box. When all the pictures are I down, and the slide drawn out to its fullest extent the steady-pin is removed and the box rotated, causing all the pictures to again assume their former position. The slide is then pushed in, and the box further rotated until the inspection-glasses are again in front.

Glass plates, to form smooth surfaces for the vertical edges of the cards to slide against are secured to the interior sides of the doors B B. ,7 What I claim as my invention is ALFRED THOMAS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM KIBBLEHOUSE, THEODORE BEoK. 

